First Ever Batch Underway!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

senorqueso

Member
Joined
May 14, 2014
Messages
9
Reaction score
1
Location
Portland
Yesterday was my first brew day, and it took a lot longer than I anticipated (it took almost an hour and a half to get up to a boil). I'm brewing a dunkelweizen (Near Dark from Eagle Rock Brewing Supply), which should be ready to bottle in two weeks. I nailed the OG, measuring 1.045ish when the recipe stated 1.046.

It's a bit warm in my fermenting room (closet) - around 77 - so I had to put it in a tub with water and a soaked towel to keep the fermenter from heating up too much.

Now my only issue is drinking enough beer to bottle all of this, but I'll probably break down and buy some new bottles. I don't think I can drink a case and a half in 2 weeks.

I don't actually have any questions at this point, but I'm pretty stoked about my first batch so I thought I'd share.

20140518_201848.jpg


20140518_201857.jpg


20140519_113452.jpg
 
Nice job by the way!

I've only somewhat recently moved into partial mashes after brewing for about 2 1/2 years now. Seems you jumped right into all-grain.
 
Oh, no, it's extract. Those were the steeping grains. I definitely don't have the resources to do all-grain.....yet.
 
BIAB doesn't take extra stuff. It's what I do.

I'm hesitant to jump into all-grain as I still don't have a great understanding of water chemistry or the complete mash. And I'm leery of adding a bunch of stuff into my beer. I like natural. Knowing my water is hard I'll just use 1 or 2 gals of RO to help soften my water depending on what style I brew.

I've read and reread about all-grain and mashing, but I'd learn much better peeking over a shoulder and asking questions.
 
I steeped the grains for 30 minutes in a separate pot and strained them into the water just before I added the extract. I took a brewing class at my LHBS and that's what they did, and their beer tasted great!

I want to get a few more batches under my belt before I try BIAB. I'm working my way through Palmer's How To Brew, chapter by chapter, and taking close notes. After I get through the all-grain chapters I'll take a closer look at it.
 
My beginning brew kit came with a DVD that didn't work.

I went by the horrible directions that came with the kit. My first 2 batches were terrible.

SWMBO helped me with the next 2 using recipes she found online, and it's been on since then!

How To Brew was very helpful!
 
Congrats on your first brew! :rockin: It will soon become an obsession. Not that that is a BAD thing!

If you don't have enough bottles without downing a case and a half by yourself - try putting a "wanted" on your local freecycle - that's how we got our first bottles. Make sure you just get the pry-off lids though, not the twist-offs.

Also someplace like a Moose Lodge or Elks that has a bar may be willing to save them for you. My local Moose Lodge is currently saving six-pack holders and wine bottles for me. We have plenty of beer bottles, but lacked enough holders for storing/carrying to share etc. The wine bottles will be for my batch of WinExperts Strawberry White Merlot. It's nice when you can get "freebies" and people are happy to save them for you.
 
Back
Top